Expert: Heroin withdrawal led to murder confession

Granskie is charged with sexual assault and murder of his father's girlfriend, 45-year-old Carolyn Stone, who was killed Memorial Day weekend in 2009 at his father's home in the Bradley Gardens section of this township.

BRIDGEWATER – A Superior Court judge will decide if a Bridgewater man's waiver of his Miranda rights, which led to his confession in a 2009 murder, was voluntary or made under the duress caused by his withdrawal from heroin.

The hearing before Superior Court Robert Reed in Somerville is the last remaining hurdle before the September trial of David Granskie Jr., 27. Granskie is charged with the sexual assault and murder of his father's girlfriend, 45-year-old Carolyn Stone, who was killed Memorial Day weekend in 2009 at his father's home in the Bradley Gardens section of this township.

Two other defendants, also of Bridgewater, have already pleaded guilty in connection with the case.

Gary Wilson pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years in state prison.

Rocky DiTaranto pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual assault and received a five-year sentence as part of a plea agreement with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office. However, because DiTaranto had already been in jail for four years and five months awaiting trial, he was released when he pleaded guilty in October.

Katharine Errickson, Granskie's lawyer, is arguing that her client's confession should not be allowed as evidence in the upcoming trial because he was undergoing heroin withdrawal and did not know what he was during during the interrogation at Bridgewater police headquarters two days after the murder.

Errickson said it will be up to Reed to determine if the confession will be allowed into evidence. If it is, she said, then a jury will decide how reliable it is.

Clarence Watson, clinical director of forensic services at the Delaware Psychiatric Facility and an expert on false confessions, testified Monday before Reed that Granskie was exhibiting symptoms of heroin withdrawal when he was being questioned by police.

Watson, a psychiatrist and a lawyer, said that Granskie had been using heroin for five or six years before the murder. Watson said Granskie's addiction had risen to 15 to 20 doses of heroin a day, up from five to six.

"That's a lot of heroin," Watson said.

Granskie's heroin addiction had led to an estrangement from his family and he was even forced to live in a junkyard, Watson said. "They felt he was out of control," Watson said.

Granskie convinced his father that he was going to quit using heroin and his father allowed him to move into his Oak Street home. But because he did not want to alienate his father, Granskie continued to use heroin up to the day before Stone was murdered in the backyard of the home, Watson said.

Granskie told Watson he took his last dose of heroin on May 22, 2006, and he did not have any more heroin when he was questioned by police on May 26, though toxicology reports indicate that Granskie had cocaine, marijuana and alcohol on the night Stone was killed.

Watson testified that withdrawal symptoms start 6 to 12 hours after the last heroin dose and reach a "peak" a couple of days later. Those symptoms include anxiety, hot and cold flashes, excessive yawning, a runny nose and pain throughout the body, he said.

The primary thought in an addict's mind going through withdrawal, Watson said, is trying to determine how to get the next dose of heroin.

"It impacts the ability to make rational decisions," Watson said, adding that people become more impulsive and do not worry about long-term consequences because they are focused on getting more heroin.

In watching the DVD of Granskie's questioning of police, Watson said he noticed in one 7-minute section that Granskie had yawned four times and sniffed 15 times.

Though Granskie may have been aware that he had waived his Miranda rights, he may not have "appreciated" the decision, Watson said.

"He was under pressure," Watson said.

Granskie, Wilson and DiTaranto were all charged in Stone's murder.

Prosecutors have not publicly detailed the role that Granskie played in the rape and murder.

But in pleading guilty, Wilson said that he and the others were attending a Memorial Day weekend barbecue at the home, where Stone lived with Granskie's father, and they became intoxicated after drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine.

In the middle of the night, the three men and Stone went into the backyard of the home. From there, Wilson said, DiTaranto had sex with Stone on the ground, keeping his hands on her neck to keep her down. After DiTaranto had sex with her, Wilson said, he was supposed to have sex with her too, but didn't.

Wilson said he then dropped a cinder block three times on her head to keep her quiet.